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Flyers Gameday: 1/14/14 @ Buffalo

January 14, 2014, 9:10 AM ET [916 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
FLYERS-SABRES GAME PREVIEW (8:15 A.M. EST)

Looking to snap a two-game losing streak, the Philadelphia Flyers (23-19-4) are in western New York tonight to take on the Buffalo Sabres (13-26-5). Game time is 7:30 p.m. EST. The match will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network.

This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season and the lone game in Buffalo. The teams will conclude the season series at the Wells Fargo Center on Sun. April 6.

On Nov. 21, the Flyers downed the visiting Sabres by a 4-1 count after trailing 1-0 at the first intermission. Matt Read scored a pair of goals at even strength in the second period to give Philly the lead. Vincent Lecavalier added some insurance with a mid-third period power play goal and Scott Hartnell sealed the final score with an empty net goal. Winning goalie Ray Emery made 29 saves, while Ryan Miller was strafed for 45 shots and stopped 42.

After tonight's game, Philly returns home to the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday to play the Nashville Predators. The Flyers will host the New York Islanders on Saturday.

FLYERS OUTLOOK

The Flyers are coming off back-to-back losses over the weekend to Tampa Bay (home) and the New York Rangers (road). In both games, the Flyers got sloppy defensively and received so-so goaltending during a crooked-number goals against period that dug too deep of a hole from which to recover.

In Sunday's 4-1 loss at Madison Square Garden, the Flyers found themselves staring at a 3-0 deficit before the first period even reached its midway point. At the other end of the ice, the team generated a lot of quality chances against Henrik Lundqvist but was unable to solve the Rangers' former Vezina Trophy winner until Mark Streit weaved home a power play point shot through traffic in the third period to avoid the shutout.

Matt Read (concussion) is expected to return to the lineup tonight. Zac Rinaldo (high ankle sprain) is out for about six weeks.

The Flyers did not practice yesterday following the back-to-back games over the weekend. Projected lines will be updated later today.

SABRES OUTLOOK

Although mired at the bottom of the NHL standings, the Sabres have earned at least one point in seven of their last 10 games (5-3-2) coming into tonight's game. The club enters this contest coming off a 2-1 shootout win over Washington.

Miller was the star of the game. The Sabres' netminder turned back 28 of 29 shots in regulation and overtime before stopping Eric Fehr, Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Bäckström in succession in the shootout.

In regulation, Tyler Ennis' late first-period power play goal proved to be the only puck the Sabres would get past Phillip Grubauer until the shootout. After Matt Moulson and Linus Omark failed to cash in their shootout opportunities, Cody Hodgson tallied to win the game.

By far, the Sabres are the most anemic offensive team in the NHL. The club has scored a mere 77 goals in 44 games. They are the only team in the NHL that has yet to reach 100 goals for the season. Even the Calgary Flames, who have been shut out with alarming frequency of late, have managed to score 103 times.

At home, the Sabres have at least been somewhat competitive as the season has progressed. They've managed to take away at least one point in half of their home games (9-12-3) to date. The Flyers have won six of their last eight games against Buffalo. However, the Sabres have won each of the last two played in Buffalo.

Tyler Myers' suspension has ended, and he will return to the lineup tonight. On the Sabres' injury front, Cody McCormick (upper body), Drew Stafford (upper body), Henrik Tallinder (upper body) and Kevin Porter (lower body) are all sidelined.

KEY STAT COMPARISONS (NHL OVERALL RANKING)

Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.56 (18th), Sabres 1.61 (30th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.74 (17th), Sabres 2.70 (16th)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.89 (21st), Sabres 0.59 (30th)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 18.0% (17th), Sabres 13.0% (28th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 84.7% (8th), Sabres 82.9% (13th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.0% (21st), Sabres 46.6% (26th)


PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)

FLYERS

12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 92 Jakub Voracek
19 Scott Hartnell - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 40 Vincent Lecavalier
9 Steve Downie - 76 Chris VandeVelde - 18 Adam Hall

44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit
41 Andrej Meszaros - 22 Luke Schenn

35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]

Potential Scratches: Jay Rosehill (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Erik Gustafsson (healthy), Zac Rinaldo (high ankle sprain), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).

SABRES

26 Matt Moulson - 63 Tyler Ennis - 28 Zemgus Girgensons
27 Matt D'Agostini - 19 Cody Hodgson - 9 Steve Ott
17 Linus Omark - 23 Ville Leino - 65 Brian Flynn
82 Marcus Foligno - 24 Zenon Konopka - 37 Matt Ellis

3 Mark Pysyk - 10 Christian Ehrhoff
57 Tyler Myers - 52 Alexander Sulzer
6 Mike Weber - 4 Jamie McBain

1 Jhonas Enroth
[30 Ryan Miller]

Potential Scratches: John Scott (healthy), Brayden McNabb (healthy), Cody McCormick (IR, upper body), Drew Stafford (IR, upper body), Henrik Tallinder (IR, upper body), Kevin Porter (lower body).

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